Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Gray matter cortical thickness (CT) is related to perceptual abilities. The fusiform face area (FFA) (Kanwisher et al., The Journal of Neuroscience: The Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 17, 4302-4311, 1997) in the inferior temporal lobe is defined by its face selectivity, and the CT of the FFA correlates with the ability to make difficult visual decisions (Bi et al., Current Biology, 24, 222-227, 2014; McGugin et al., Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 28, 282-294, 2016, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 32, 1316-1329, 2020). In McGugin et al. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 32, 1316-1329, (2020), individuals with better face recognition had relatively thinner FFAs, whereas those with better car recognition had thicker FFAs. This opposite correlation effect (OCE) for faces and cars was pronounced when we look selectively at the deepest laminar subdivision of the FFA. The OCE is thought to arise because car and face recognition abilities are fine-tuned by experience during different developmental periods. Given autism's impact on face recognition development, we predicted the OCE would not appear in autistic individuals. Our results replicate the OCE in total FFA thickness and in deep layers in neurotypical adults. Importantly, we find a significant reduction of these effects in adults with autism. This supports the idea that the OCE observed in neurotypical adults has a developmental basis. The abnormal OCE in autism is specific to the right FFA, suggesting that group differences depend on local specialization of the FFA, which did not occur in autistic individuals.
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,190
Funders: National Science Foundation, Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, National Institutes of Health, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, National Institute of Mental Health, Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Awards: Upgrade and Refurbishment of a 7T MRI Scanner for Research, G2284173953, G5580019600, NeuroDataRR: Replication of cortical microstructure correlations with face and object recognition, G617493606, G6399140587, G7038757410, G7440355801, Developmental Psychopathology, Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR), G95160140
OpenAlex ID: W4409982416